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Virginia Lottery marks 33rd anniversary

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Virginia LotterySince the Virginia Lottery sold its first ticket on Sept. 20, 1988, it has sold more than $44 billion in tickets, awarded $26 billion in prizes to players, and paid nearly $2.5 billion in commissions and incentives to thousands of retailer partners.

And since the establishment of the Virginia Lottery Proceeds Fund in 1999, the Lottery has raised a combined $11 billion in profits for K-12 public school programs.

“It’s been more than three decades since that delivery truck rolled into Virginia ready to distribute the very first scratch ticket: it was a one-dollar Match 3 scratch game. Since then, the years have been filled with many memorable milestones for our lottery players, our retailers, our employees and Virginia’s public schools,” said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kevin Hall.

“Whether scratching a ticket purchased from one of our self-service vending machines, or playing online, or maybe just imagining all of the possibilities of winning a jackpot, our players have had millions of winning moments courtesy of the Virginia Lottery,” Hall said. “What’s even better is, by law, every penny of lottery profit goes directly to public schools, and that’s a win for every community in Virginia.”

In addition to celebrating more than three decades of success, today’s anniversary also offered the Virginia Lottery an opportunity to freshen its look by updating its famous logo. From the first version in 1988, which was updated in 2012, to the newest version unveiled today, Virginians will continue to immediately recognize the same iconic crossed fingers, but they’ll look just a little different.

“We are lucky to have one of the most instantly recognizable trademarks in Virginia. When you see these crossed fingers — while visiting any of our 53-hundred retail partners, or maybe you spot it on a billboard, in a commercial, or on one of our digital channels — you instantly know it represents the Virginia Lottery. We constantly work to freshen and update the lottery product mix so it’s never boring or predictable for players. Our goal with this updated logo is to move the Virginia Lottery brand forward while also reflecting the strong reputation we’ve built over 33 years — imagining what’s possible, providing fun, entertaining experiences — and doing it responsibly and with integrity.”

Authorized by Virginia voters in a successful 1987 referendum, the Virginia Lottery generates more than $2 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, customers purchased $3.3 billion in lottery products and helped generate more than $765 million in funding for public education.

For more information, visit the Virginia Lottery’s Giving Back page, visit the website, like the Lottery on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram, and check out its page on YouTube.

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